


Greasing the Wheels

by EvienStark



Category: Game Grumps, Ninja Sex Party - Fandom
Genre: AUs, Angst, Dragon AU, F/M, Falling Asleep on Each Other, Florist AU, Friends to Lovers, More tags to follow, Pining, Romance, Secret Relationship, War AU, bed sharing, nursing back to health, prompts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-11
Updated: 2019-01-05
Packaged: 2019-08-21 22:09:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16585145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EvienStark/pseuds/EvienStark
Summary: Trying to get back into it with a series of one-shot prompts off a few lists I've been saving up. All chapters will be mostly self-contained stories from that prompt list, which will be stories involving you and Dan either already in pre-established relationships or blossoming relationships.





	1. Bed Sharing

Overbooked and far too late now to even consider checking around the area for another hotel room (not to mention something that would have been _your_ fault), you and Dan stood in the small room, considering the somehow even smaller bed. The _single_ bed. It was really a Queen, so not entirely the worst, but betwixt the two of you, it would probably hold no comfort. He too long-limbed and gangly to provide any length of unburdened comfort, and you... well, you liked your space. It was a wonder you'd even agreed to share a room in the first place, finding it far easier to just exist during this final stretch of the tour by your lonesome.

But now with this final stop, no need to be cramped in a tour bus any longer, you apparently had been sentenced by fate or something far sinister to tiptoeing your way around the one man you really didn't have the luxury of messing things up with. So close, too, to it all being over. Not one mistake. Not one mishap. Not one dialogue out of place or misattributed smile. So close... and here at the finish line you knew you were about to trip, and it wasn't even your own fault.

You'd foolishly thought you could get through this entire tour without blowing it, without betraying your true feelings. And when it was all over you'd quit playing working babysitter so that you could perhaps try and pursue a relationship, something that would have been too treacherous while you were technically employed by him- if he even cared about you in that way at all. He'd never so much as shown you anything like it. He'd always been friendly and kind to you just the same way he had everyone else. But it was things like that that made it too hard to keep from falling... and fell you certainly had. So you'd made step by step plans how to get yourself out of this mess and into a whole other. But that one would surely be worth it. If you could get over yourself enough to even entertain asking him on a date. God forbid.

Now it all seemed moot. You'd do something wrong here and end up upsetting him or offending him- though Dan seemed hard pressed to offend. Still. Sharing a room for the next few days there was a slew of mistakes to find yourself wound up in.

Very suddenly you both found each other talking at the same time. Stopped. Then started again before he laughed with that breathless wonder of his and then reached a hand up to offer you the right of way. So, "I'll sleep in the chair."

He seemed curious, a knit of his brows and a tilt of his head. "Fuck that. You'll regret it in the morning, and we're gonna need you to not be, you know, fucked up tomorrow." Grinning with all the ease in the world.

This was true. If you were going to make it through the finale show leading them by the hand, in rituals they already knew front to back, you needed not only your wits but your physical well being. "Well- _you_ can't sleep in the chair." He'd have the same problems if not more due to his perpetual state of giraffe-dom.

"I never said I was going to." He pointed out, another sweet smile at the ready.

Annoyance was fanning through. Hand to your hip you turned fully in his direction, "Are you going to protest if I say I'm gonna sleep on the floor?"

"You know I am."

For a brief moment you wondered if he took pride in being difficult. "Then?" Your hands flipping palms up into the air in a true signal of giving up. "What say you mister I-have-all-the-answers?"

His arm suavely came around your shoulders, causing you to tense slightly, and his arm fanned over the foot of the bed. "I say we're two grown adults who can handle sharing this luxuriously small bed for a few nights."

He said this, and you heard it, but already in your mind a big red light was blaring. A big no-no. But protesting this? It was his sweet naivete at work, and if you caused a fuss, that supposed (and fake, if you knew better) innocence would fade away into questions that you didn't want to answer. That you _couldn't._ "Fine." You really would just have to be strong. Honestly, maybe you were making too huge a mental deal out of this. "But you better have packed pajama bottoms. And you're wearing a t-shirt to bed. If skin touches skin I'm telling HR." Smiling up at him to put him at ease.

Giggles were not too far behind. "When did we get an HR department?"

"We didn't, but I'll erect one just for this occasion." Quickly, at the open of his mouth as soon as this had finished coming out of yours, you gave his chest a soft push. "And you better not make some terrible sex joke out of that or I'll get started right now!"

It wasn't long before you were both laughing at each other while going through a nightly routine you'd never shared before. The ease set in and lasted right up until you were both in bed, lying face up, staring up at the ceiling through the darkness.

He called your name out and he sounded so far away despite you knowing he was a brush of your fingertips away, the dip in his side of the bed so close you could fall into it. And him. "Yeah?" You answered back just as quietly.

There was a pause. A long pause. A suspiciously long pause. And then, "Sleep well."

You were sure your mind was just running overtime, thinking of all the things he could have said that would have been so much better, so much more towards the advantage of your heavy crush... but in the end it was probably just all wishful thinking. "You, too."

In the end it wasn't so bad. It took you longer than normal, but there was something comforting about the slow cadence of his deep breathing that kept you afloat before you eventually sunk. The next morning came and went without problem. He was out of bed before you, in the shower, singing to himself. That wasn't so hard was it? You could do that two more nights. That thought alone got you up and prepared you for a long day ahead.

Sound check and warm ups and rehearsals and the QnA and getting into costume and more warm ups. Sitting with him in the quiet room in back, like always. A ritual you two had come to enjoy right before he bounded backstage to listen in to their opening acts. Then he was gone like a crack of lightning, and the crowd screamed for him like their grandparents might have some years ago attending a Beatles concert. The electricity and happiness overwhelming. You bopped along, sang aloud, gave him a smile and a thumbs up as he came back for a few moments and then returned for the encore. He thanked everyone there, he thanked people not there, he thanked the crew- you, too, and hearing your name into the microphone sent shivers down your spine for one reason or another.

Then the song came and went and eventually so did the both of you. Greeting fans on your way to the car, and guiding him up to the room as his legs seemed about to give. Adrenaline fading. Months' worth. You let him simmer and soak in the wispy steam of a bowl of boiling water, post-show important rituals that you'd gotten down to a science now. But all the knowns shattered with his arm coming around your shoulder as you sat at the edge of that shared bed together, his head laying in the crook of your neck, and you felt the shiver of weeping from him before you heard a single sound.

"Dan?" Terrified so suddenly. What had he been holding in until now? It seemed powerful and strong and-

"I'm fucking tired. And happy. I'm so fucking happy. And... fucking tired."

A breath left you, something gently amused as you put an arm back around him and lightly pet his hair. Something you would have considered an absolute no-go before, something that seemed and felt intimate even now but... somehow it was okay. "You said tired twice."

" _Fucking_ tired..." He half sniffled and half giggled out. "I'm okay... just..."

"You don't have to explain it to me. I get it." This also was not the first time he'd just collapsed into letting it all out after being overstimulated and overwhelmed for months. You didn't want him to keep doing things like this, but the way he talked, what choice did he have?

"I know you do..." He hiccuped again, sitting back to wipe a hand over his eyes. You let yours drop. "You've been here- and there- and fucking everywhere with us- with me. And I can't thank you enough. I know it's not always easy. But... it's.. easier with you." He seemed so terribly sincere and earnest.

It touched you to the core. You set the bowl of now cold water aside. "You don't have to thank me. But you're welcome. I've had some of the best times of my life wrangling you." _Working_ for him. Something you had to remind yourself of, even here. You were friends, sure. But you weren't doing this out of the kindness of your heart.

...even though you would, if he asked.

The two of you gazed at each other as his tears came to a slow stop, perhaps for too long a time. A warmth you'd tamped down for professionalism sake was starting to bubble up. He turned away, suddenly but thankfully so, "I need to fucking sleep. Is it alright if I sleep in my boxers if I like.. sleep above the covers or something?" He was wiping at his eyes again as he stood.

No matter the danger of your circumstance, after all that, after everything in the past year, you couldn't deny him. "It's fine. You can air out your skin and sleep under the comforter too, if you want."

" **Eugh**. Don't say it like _that_."

Your harmonized laughter whirled around the room before eventually it all went to silence. You both slept facing away from each other and it was easier to fall that night than the night previous. Similarly it was harder to get up. Body weary. Ready to not be stuck to a minute-by-minute schedule for the next day, the next week, the next month. Oh, glorious. So you remained there for longer than you should have, in that shallower and shallower half-sleep.

It was when you were right on the surface you started to realized that curiously too-heavy comforter was not what it seemed. Not blankets draped over you, but Dan himself. An arm over and around your back, a leg hooked between yours- something that maybe could have been innocent had it not been for the arm underneath him crooked up, fingers sunk into your hair at the back of your head. Holding you there. And so... you pretended.

You pretended for much longer than you should have that you were still sleeping. Not just because you didn't want to face what would surely be mutual embarrassment over this, but because... because... it was nice.

But when you finally got too worried you'd get caught, you allowed the open of your eyes, finding his face not too far from your own. His were still closed, but much like yourself, you knew he was only...

"Dan?"

His eyes blinked only a quarter open, dark and glazed. "...is this okay?"

"Yeah." The answer left you almost without permission, and you reached to wrap an arm around his waist and snuggle as close as you could. "It's perfect." Mumbled somewhere near his chest.

You very suddenly didn't care if this messed up things between you, or your plans that were now completely annihilated. Just like him, too, to blow everything up with no warning. You didn't care if he was just crushing you with his need for intimacy and closeness after such a long journey. You just wanted to hold on to it all, to him. And maybe if you were lucky... this wouldn't be the end...


	2. Florist AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This one is a Florist AU! We're going third person for this but only because I felt like Dan's perspective was more important this time around.

Dan started off not knowing a single thing about her, but that didn't stop him from finding himself helplessly struck. Her smile glowed, her laugh bounced, her hair beckoned to have his fingers run through- ...but daydreams were just that, and he was resolved to keep himself pleasant and respectable every time she came through. It wasn't exactly clockwork, but she did come at least every two weeks. Some days she'd look through the cases, but no matter how long she took looking over the various displays, she always came to his part of the shop to ask him to make an arrangement for her.

It was the third time she came that he actually learned her name, and long after she left he still heard it in his head, pictured her face with it. Seemed perfect. And the next time she came to ask him to cut a special bouquet he used her name and the recognition seemed to get a shyer smile out of her than he'd ever seen before, but he liked it even more. He liked showing her some small attention that seemed to mean the world to her.

"What can I put together for you today?" Excited to get to work wrapping some flowers for her. As always. She had a unique spell over him, but he'd be damned if he could ever break past the barrier of customer and shopkeep.

"I'm not sure." She said this every time. He'd expected it in fact, and couldn't help the grin that bloomed forth. She smiled back like it was some secret joke only they shared. "Why not something purple with something... what's your favorite color?"

Already he'd turned his back to go to the freshest flowers he had waiting to be plucked and turned into something wonderful. "Blue." Answered easily enough as he pulled some fresh wrap from the cylinder.

"Something purple and something blue, then. Not too big."

"You got it."

So he got to work making a fine pair of this and that, something delicate and beautiful for a woman that was just as much. What was she doing with all these arrangements? He wanted to ask, he definitely wanted to know, but it felt like maybe he shouldn't. Who got this many flowers but perhaps either someone who was keeping a nice home or... someone who had an affectionate eye.

He assumed it was the latter. That would be his luck. But while he never asked, he'd never know. And that was the way he liked it. Free to daydream in a realm that wasn't too farfetched. Schrodinger's Single Woman- a thought that got a little laugh from him as he tied her flowers together and handed them over.

She tipped her head to ask silently what was so funny and he just smiled one more time. "Thanks for coming back. I know there's like a grocery store down the block that's cheaper." Not exactly explanation for his chuckles, but something he felt needed to be said.

"Maybe." Said effortlessly as they exchanged money and receipts. "But they don't make bouquets like you do."

"Like I do?" Only just _slightly_ fishing for what was an obvious compliment lying in wait. So sue him. He couldn't want to hear her say something nice?

She hummed a noise of assurance, lifting the arrangement into her arms, holding it carefully like it meant the world to her. "With heart. And soul. They're always beautiful."

He tried not to go pink. "Thanks."

In another life somewhere, sometime, he finally stopped being a coward and seized that exact moment to ask her on a date. _Movie? Dinner? Or maybe just a coffee? Can we go talk? Would that be okay? I really like you and..._

But she left. Like she always did. Because this wasn't another life. This was this life.

It only took twenty-four hours for him to realize he'd done the right thing. Rejection would have been imminent and well-due. She came back, a battered mess of what used to be a carefully selected bouquet in her arms.

She was different, too. She looked as dead as the thing she dragged in with her.

He barely knew how to react. "What uh- is everything alright?" He felt stupid immediately for asking that when clearly nothing was fine.

It was only then he realized how often they looked at each other. How often they smiled at each other. Because now he was missing it. She had her gaze averted and her lips were turned down. "I... I don't want a refund or anything I just.. is there anything I can do to... fix them? Save it? I don't know..."

Offering the wrap up, she placed it on the counter and he didn't even want to look at it. Stems were bent and broken, petals were gone and torn. While he wanted to be a hero and take it into the back and sew it up somehow, "It's uh..." He swept it from the counter and into the trash underneath the table out of sight. "I can make you another one. On the house." Quickly determined and he turned his back to pick out the same flowers as the day prior-

"No- don't... don't bother. It's not... important anymore..."

He turned, setting the backs of his knuckles on his hip as he regarded her. "My first guess was that a car ran over them. In which case, fuck the driver- but now I'm thinking it's a little more personal? Like fuck a specific person?" Trying awkwardly but very hard to get _something_ out of her. For it to all go back to normal.

Blessed be when the corner of her lip quirked into a smile that was barely there and then gone again. She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "Yeah. Well... he said that um.. well he said I was embarrassing him by getting him flowers all the time. He said that it makes him look like a- ... _ugh_." She set her hands on the counter to keep from fidgeting. "You ever just wake up one moment and realize someone wasn't who you thought they were?"

"Yeah. Plenty of times. It fucking sucks." Being openly honest.

"Yeah." Huffing out a defeated laugh. "It really does..."

They shared a moment of silence that wasn't completely uncomfortable, but that wasn't exactly nice either. When he couldn't take any more of it he turned around again. "What's your favorite color?"

She answered quickly without thinking, followed with, "...why?"

"I'm gonna make you one to take home."

"Oh- no- you don't have to do that..."

Half turning to her after a snip of his shears, he smiled warmly, "I want to." He tried not to go too big with it, not wanting to overwhelm her. But in the midst of pruning and picking, "Flowers are awesome. And they're not _girly_ , if that's what he was getting at. They're beautiful. It's none of my business but it sounds like you dodged a bullet. You don't deserve to end up with someone like that. I'd count myself the luckiest dude in the world if my lady was bringing me flowers all the time."

When he came back around to wrap she was staring up at him and he stopped immediately, feeling glued in place. "Thanks, Danny..."

Had she ever said his name before? She must have. He couldn't remember giving it, but it was there clear as day on his nametag. Still... it felt special when she said it. Sacred.

"You're welcome." He felt like he must have been smiling the dumbest smile ever smiled. But he couldn't help the way it shaped his lips, the way she was making him feel. Dopey. And wonderful. "Here." Handing her bouquet to her once he was finished, and he felt that same sense of pride when she cradled it like he'd produced the next most important thing in her world. "I... hope that I um..." Nervously he put a hand back through his hair. How to get this out without sounding insensitive? "I hope I still get to see you every now and again."

The problem was that he was being honest. He did still want to see her. But he didn't want it to sound like he was hitting on her when she'd very clearly just been broken from a serious relationship. It could have been read all wrong.

He felt a wash of relief when she smiled. "I'll still come by."

"Cool." The word in fact sounded like the most uncool thing ever uttered by anyone and he felt embarrassed but he tried to push forward. "You'll be okay." This also none of his business and not something he could truly know.

But he hoped.

They said their goodbyes and he watched her walk out onto the sidewalk and further still until he couldn't see her anymore. And for a while she was all he thought about.

She didn't come in next week.  
She didn't come the week after that.  
She didn't come the next month.

It was the worst. Losing something you never had. They weren't even really friends. But god... he missed the sound of her voice. He missed her smile. He missed her laugh.

At the end of the month after that the bell in the front rang and he called out a hollow greeting. He wanted desperately to get out of this funk. People met and left each other's lives all the time. Ships passing in the night and all that. It was just hard-

And then there she was. Holding a big bouquet full of blue and white flowers. "Hi, Danny."

He stood shocked for a moment, mouth agape, which in turn got a giggle out of her. Thankfully that broke him free from his idiocy. "Uh- hi. Good to see you again."

"Yeah... um.." The awkwardness was thankfully not one-sided. "Here. I got this for you." Holding out the flowers for him.

Utterly blown away, "Me??" No one had gotten him anything like that before. But once they were in his hands his eyes narrowed and he shot a suspicious look her way. "Did you get these from the supermarket?" His grin meant to ease her, not serious in the slightest-

Well. Maybe _a little_ serious. He couldn't have her shopping with a competitor.

"No." She rocked back on her heels and then to her toes. "I had someone here make them earlier this morning. I just wanted to make sure you got them."

"Oh." He didn't know what to do with any of this. He was overwhelmed by the gesture, and confused by it, too. But that didn't stop the sincerity of his gratitude. "Thank you. ...I'm not sure if saying "they're beautiful" is egotistical since they're our flowers. Did you pick them out?"

"Yeah."

His brows raised. "Oh yeah? You never pick out your own arrangement." Still teasing her only just a little. It was true he usually had put together everything for her and she only played the part of colors or shapes. But he meant no harm by it.

"Well..." Lurching the word with a little bobble of her head. "These ones were extra special." He had, once again, no idea what to do with all of this, so he found himself glad when she continued. "I had a tough time um... we'd been together for a while and... anyway. It doesn't matter. That's long over. And. I needed to thank you for being so sweet to me. So. Yeah."

He'd never seen this side of her before. She'd always seemed so well composed. Playful but purposeful whenever she'd been in there before. Now she barely seemed to know what to do with herself... which was amazing. Because he was in the same way.

"I love them." This he said decidedly so. He did love them. And what they represented. What she meant by giving them to him. "This might sound stupid but uh, no one's ever gotten me flowers before."

"Really!" Surprised entirely.

"Really!"

They found themselves both laughing for a long moment before it died down. He had no idea what to do or say, and just as he opened his mouth to try and find _anything_ to latch onto, she started, "I was gonna put like... a little card in there. Asking you out. But I thought that was kinda tacky."

"Oh." His brain stalled completely before puttering at half capacity. "That's too bad. I think stuff like that is romantic."

Stupid. Stupid stupid stupid. Why shame her? She was getting at that she wanted to go on a date and his first instinct was to make a shitty joke shaming her???? Why was he so stupid!!

"I can still do it. If you want." She took it well.

Dan tried to recover from yelling at himself. "How about... if we go grab a coffee. And... if you have a good time, you can get me another bouquet and put your number in the card."

"And if I don't?" She was very clearly joking, but he enjoyed it. When she'd gotten close enough to perch on the counter he had no idea.

But he liked the proximity. "Then you can get me a bouquet with a thumbs-down on the card. Go classic Roman style with a twist. You were _not_ entertained."

A laugh bubbled out of her taking her by surprise and he was close behind. When she could catch her breath, "Sounds good. I'll come by when you're done then?"

With a terrible following, he gave her a thumbs-up and what felt like had to be the dumbest grin ever grinned. "Yeah. I'd like that."

Even saying that wasn't doing justice to just how much he'd been waiting for this. Waiting for her. And when she left a little while later he looked left and then looked right and then buried his face in the top of those delicate petals and took a deep breath.

_How'd he get so lucky?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always if you liked please leave a comment! They make the art world go round. Much love!


	3. Accidentally Falling Asleep on One Another & Secret Relationships

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time for some sneaking and sleeping....

Bright city lights had long since turned into the dim glow of the highway. Day had given way to night, the tourbus on track to make good timing towards the next venue. While others were taking the opportunity to get snuggled up in their bunks and catch up on some much needed sleep, there were others like you, and Dan, who had decided to stay up- or perhaps it wasn't _entirely_ a self-made decision. But there the two of you were, with Brian across the other side of seating, making entertainment for yourselves while the road continued to stretch far into the distance.

Brian was on his laptop, doing who knew what, probably making a dozen purposefully terrible posts for any number of their social media accounts, while Dan had taken up the one thing he did best in moments where he should be resting. Work. He currently had his one of his lyrics notebooks on his lap, head tilted down, glasses just barely hanging on to the bridge of his nose as he looked over his own work. What he was penning out tonight, you had no idea, nor would you ask, nor would you look. While he was seated almost unbearably (in the kindest sense) close, it wasn't any of your business to spy unless he decided to show you.

Which was one of the reasons he had no quarrel with cozying up into your personal space and trusting that you wouldn't peek. Probably not a single thought about it. At least, the way he'd dropped down on the couch right next to you a little while ago seemed to suggest it. You yourself had a mug of half-cooled tea in one hand and your phone in the other, though most of your attention was to the window. It was tough to see anything, half-moon covered by scattered clouds, but landscape you could make out you appreciated.

Your focus on nothing was hard to keep with the warmth radiating off Dan, the soft hums of thought that would caress the air, the feel of one or two stray curls brushing the open skin of your neck and crook of your shoulder. It was an almost inappropriate intimacy, Brian was no less than five feet away, and the other members of the band snoozing away, the driver up front- ...you were making too big a deal out of it. Clearly he wasn't. Because it was a simple thing. Sitting next to each other. Nothing wrong with it. Even though when you set your hand down so you could shift your weight, you laid it right atop his and the two of you shared a perhaps _overly_ knowing glance before two similarly light but coy smiles were exchanged.

No apology necessary, and he soon moved so that you could situate your legs up under and get more comfortable. A move that brought the two of you even closer together, arms now pressing against one another. Really, if he had any courtesy whatsoever, he'd just put his around you...

Wishful thinking. _Terrible_ thinking, at that. The bus had strict rules, and it also had several members who had no idea of the two of you- or maybe just pretended for everyone's benefit. You and Dan were private people. But perhaps not the slyest. Not that either of you would have guessed. You played things perfectly, and for the sake of other people. If not, you'd have been in his lap moments ago, or laid his head in yours and run your fingers through those thick waves-

Brian was looking at you over the screen of his computer, and it was only catching the movement out of the corner of your eye that you realized you'd been staring at the corner of Dan's angled jaw. The line of his cheekbones. The lightness of his eyes behind his frames... either way. Brian was now staring at you staring at Dan, so you turned your head down and towards your phone that had long since gone dark. If anyone knew it was Brian. In fact, you were sure that despite Dan's protests otherwise, he'd probably slipped the information to Brian months ago, if not just directly came out with it. He wasn't that great at secrets, especially not with certain people. But it wasn't good press to be dating your PA, nor was it smart, really.

But how could the two of you really have helped yourselves?

You were just a very good friend and a very diligent worker. Good at your job of keeping Dan's overly busy life in check. Sometimes by inserting yourself directly...

Brian cleared his throat as if to interrupt your own lurid thoughts heading from a place they were sure not to return for quite some time and it startled the two of you with a little jolt, both of your heads turning up once more to look at him.

"I'm going to bed." With that he shut his laptop, and another icy stare came after it.

"Okay, man. Have a good sleep." Dan, cordial and sweet as ever. And probably oblivious, too.

"Good night." You tried to be as inconspicuous even though you knew the game had long since been over. Before tonight, for sure. But this night in particularly hadn't helped any.

Whether or not he agreed or disagreed (in which case would have stung you, but you'd find a way to carry on), he got up and shuffled off to his bunk. Unaware, the both of you held your breath, listening. Waiting for the quiet once more. And once the air was filled with it, Dan took your hand in his, dumping your phone into your lap, which had you quieting what would have been a very telltale giggle, and then raised it to his lips to kiss the back. And then run his lips over your knuckles. And then-

"You should get to bed soon too, you know. You only have a big show tomorrow." You had to put a stop to his wonderful but all too tempting gentle intimacies. And you leveled your voice to casual, just in case _anyone_ was listening.

He murmured out some sort of half agreement into the palm of your hand. "Yeah. Soon. I just wanna finish this." To his credit, he was peering over the hand currently in his possession. Dual attentions to both you and his work.

You chanced laying your head on his shoulder, "Mmhmm. And what's this?" Unable to keep the sweetness from your voice that time. The fondness overtaking you all too easily. While Dan working himself to death was terrible, and your job to prevent besides (as it had near happened many times before your tenure... and maybe once or twice after when he was committed to the idea), his determination, his will, his artistic soul made him beautiful.

And, really, how could anyone resist falling for a man like that? Certainly someone far stronger than you.

"Just some _serious_ stuff." Lurching the word, as he was continually prone to do, humor behind it nonetheless. "Being on the road... performing most nights and then coming back here..." His tone lowered as he turned his head, the next few words from his lips directly to your ear, " _being with you_..."

You fought back a shiver and gave him a playful nudge with your forehead. "Stop." Not the most strong command, but a direction still.

He obeyed, tilting back up. "I dunno... it just makes me feel like writing. There's things that I feel only when I'm doing this kinda stuff. And they're raw right _now_. So this is the best time to write them."

It was easy to understand the method to his madness of overworking. His musical leanings were so strongly ingrained that sometimes there just was no stopping, else he risked losing the true power of emotion. And any song he penned himself couldn't be lacking. It'd get scrapped. You knew this well, too.

"It's not like I'm planning to ask to start working on a serious album or, even like.. asking Peter if he's got time. It's not in the plans or anything. But... that doesn't mean I don't wanna work on it."

Nodding, "I understand." Only glancing once that all was quiet before turning up to give him the lightest press of your lips against his cheek. It made him happy to work, to write music, to hear melodies, to perform, to... all the things that broke him occasionally. But they were worth it. So long as it was never too permanent of damage. He was a well off artist now, but somehow that didn't mean he was struggling any less than when he'd been living out of his car.

Life was strange like that.

"I'll finish up soon and head to sleep. You don't have to wait up for me, if you don't want to." Shift made, his attention went easily back to what he'd been working on. Apparently deciding after that short talk to erase the line he'd penciled in just minutes ago. You weren't sure if this was a good or bad thing, but he started writing again quickly.

"It's alright. I sleep better knowing you're asleep anyway." This wasn't necessarily too loving of a statement. It was truth whether romantically or professionally. Dan resting was too much of a rarity sometimes. And it was, in fact, your job to see to it that he remembered how to do such a thing from time to time.

Amicable quiet settled over the two of you, interrupted by one or two notes sung here and there. Accompanying music to his lyrics that he no doubt wanted to remember. Your attention went back out the window, catching yourself lulled and dazed too soon. Time went by without notice and you may have felt comfortable enough to just call it a night right there-

Dan of an all too similar mind, you soon found. When his head had landed on your shoulder, you had no idea. But once you came back to the world, there he was, and with all the gentleness you could muster, you brushed back the hair from his eyes, taking his glasses off his face to place them on the table nearest. He looked so tired, even like this, but there was a sereneness to him that you didn't have it in you to interrupt just yet.

 _Just a few more minutes_ , you lied to yourself. You'd let him rest a few more minutes undisturbed before cruelly waking him and sending him lumbering off to his actual bed. You did this for yourself, too, relishing in him being right there. Right where he was supposed to be. No sense of thrill at the idea of being caught. The both of you didn't really need that right now, him especially. So you vowed to keep alert. To keep watch.

And.

Send him to bed.

Yes.

Soon...

Very soon...

What became your undoing was your own selfishness and need to complete the circuit between you. Eventually you laid your head atop his and got lost in the rhythm of his breathing. The dull sound of the bus driving on into the night, getting further and further away from you until all of it was gone completely.

A familiar sound of someone clearing their throat came too long after that. And then several throat clearings that startled the both of you into sitting upright.

"What's- what time is it..." Dan too tired and still half asleep, rubbing at his eyes, not really aware of what sort of situation the two of you had found yourselves in.

"Listen. We've come to an agreement here, while the two of you were unconscious. So if you could stop being asleep for five seconds and listen to what we have to say, it'd be nice." Brian's dryness interrupting everything else. Acting, with underlaid humor, as if all the two of you _did_ was fall asleep on the job- ...on each other, no less. "We've decided if you could stop sneaking around it'd be really great. Especially since this is the second morning you've hogged the breakfast nook."

"It's for breakfasting and nooking. Not _nookie_ -ing."

"We are _not_ having sex on this bus." The only thing you could think to say because the very idea was loathsome. How on earth could you enjoy lovemaking with Dan when several other people were around listening in? Impossible!

There were a few all too amused snorts and bouts of laughter that you weren't really too happy with. Sure this could have turned out worse but it was still no short of embarrassing. "Also- just because this couch is next to the counter where you make tea and coffee doesn't make it a fucking breakfast nook." Dan, coming around to the waking world, finally found something to say.

"Get out of the way anyway. And don't think just because we mildly approve of this disgusting thing you've got going on means you can _start_ having sex on the bus. Because I _will_ join in and you will _not_ like it. _No one_ will have a good time. Not even me. But I'll do it." Brian's threats wonderful and terrible as always.

"Yeah... okay.. got it." Dan, same as you, probably had no idea how far Brian was actually joking. In some sense he wasn't.

And that was terrifying.

The two of you got to your feet and were immediately replaced as if they'd been _dying_ to sit in that exact spot for hours. Speaking of, "Are we close to the city?" You didn't really want to be awake yet, feeling like you hadn't slept quite enough. But that was normal.

"No. So if you wanna lie down it's cool. ...but no sex!"

"We're not!!" Exploding out of the both of you simultaneously.

But... now that the cat was out of the bag... and that you both had permission... his bunk called. And crawling into that tiny space with him was probably, somehow despite just _how_ tiny it was, the most satisfying feeling in the whole world. Right next to his arms coming around you, legs tangling with yours, your head at his chest...

"Hey..." He was just barely there, same as you, both seconds from falling again.

"Mn..." About all you could get out.

"I love you."

There was more sentiment here than just those three words. You were safe. Things were fine. The relationship was semi-out but things were good. You two were good. You were happy. And you were grateful.

"I love you, too."

The group laughter just a few feet away sounded like waves of the ocean, the two of you too far gone to let it bother you or keep you awake for one moment more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always please leave me a comment if you liked it! Your comments keep the works a-coming!


	4. Dragon AU [Lady Shifter Dragon]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A tale of a human and a dragon...

He'd done all the things he wasn't supposed to do, broken all the laws he wasn't supposed to break. In consequence, fallen deeply in love with a woman that wasn't his- a wild animal, at that. At least that's what the people had hushed and whispered for years upon years upon years. Wanted nothing to do with their kind. Deceitful. Traitorous.  _Dangerous_ . And when the wars had broken out between their kind, all the better, so the folks had said and passed between each other in more of those cruel whispers. 

_Let them all kill each other. We'll be better off._

While he had no keen death wish, and had done his best to keep his dreamy head out of trouble, on a journey between two villages he found himself caught. The money was good even though the land was perilous. He'd hoped traversing the unclaimed grounds in the middle of the night would keep him alive. 

In part, it had. 

But in others... 

How was he to ignore the pained, very feminine, cries in the woods? His heart wouldn't allow it. Kindness, not romanticism, although the latter soon consumed him. She was beautiful. She was also near death. Battered and bloodied, a casualty of the ongoing war, perhaps? But it was the shimmer of patterned scales along pretend human skin, glistening underneath the bright light of the moon, that gave him a start. 

Danny was left with a choice. Abandon her? Leave her here to die? 

_No._ Of course that wasn't a choice. No choice at all. 

When he attempted to hoist her up, she growled. More in pain than anything, at least he hoped. The way her sharp full set of fangs barely fit in that small mouth of hers made him pray he was not making a mistake. So he hushed and cooed and eventually sang some made-up song to her, the undertones of which were  _please don't kill me_ . More thought than actual words. He wouldn't dare beg chance like that. 

He abandoned his quest on the other side and brought her home. Nursed her the best he could with what little knowledge he had of her kind. Eventually she became coherent enough to speak, to know of her situation, and every time she watched him with those distrustful, sharp eyes he became saddened. 

A week later she seemed well enough to be on the move,  _you've done enough._

_No, stay._ He begged, more for his sake than her own. 

But she did at his request, although not without trying to further the barrier that should have laid between them,  _you think it not strange I took the shape of a woman?_ Implying she'd been relying on a dumb human to come help her in her time of need.

Because, of course, no one would have approached a downed dragon unless they were of the mind to end its life. 

And knowing that's exactly what she meant, he could only smile,  _I would have stopped for you no matter how you looked._

His truth was too easy to read, and he found himself delighted when she turned her head away, playing at disinterest so that should could hide her utter shame. 

No human had ever made a dragon blush before. 

She couldn't stay forever, though. There was a war going on, after all, and now she had the upperhand, so she thought. A week after that, with a little looser of a tongue, having grown used to his presence, she talked of plans for a sneak attack. They thought her dead, so she'd catch them off guard and kill them all. 

_...do you have to?_

_Do I have to what?_

_...kill them?_

Danny's heart was sweet and just a little too innocent. Of course she had to kill them. How else would the war end? And by whose hand at that? It had to be her. She was certain. And so she made haste to leave. 

Not without a lingering glance.  
Not without a touch of her hand across his face.   
Not without an understanding that didn't need voice. 

In a short time he'd come to love her.   
And she... 

He didn't see her again for months. She had never made a promise to return, so it wasn't like there had been anything to break save his heart. He still kept hope. But it was getting harder every day. Worse yet, no one he could speak to about it all. Either no one would believe him or they  _would_ and he'd be in a lot of trouble. Maybe even ousted from society. 

_But they aren't dangerous_ , he pretended to tell a hypothetical person when they hypothetically started yelling rhetoric at him after he'd hypothetically spilled the beans.  _They're just trying to survive. Same as you and me. And... they're beautiful... she's beautiful...and... I love her..._

Which he had no right to do, but there he had been for quite some time now, doing it anyway. 

She appeared when his hope was dimming at its lowest, in the same way they'd met. Not in good shape. But she'd gone straight away to him. Only him. Because he would take care of her, if she happened to live. Her plan had been foiled, and somehow they'd been ready. Which made her less so.

And when she came to him this time it was with even more thrashing and flailing than before. 

_My eye- my eye-!_

They'd half blinded her this time. Who  _they_ were, Dan never wanted to know... yet there was some sort of rage boiling just underneath the surface that said otherwise. Who were  _they_ that would maim her like this? 

He had to coo and murmur-sing to her to get her to calm down. Any more growling and shrieking and they'd be found out. He didn't live in one of the houses nestled inside town, but he wasn't exactly on the outskirts, either. It wasn't her fault, though, he knew. He couldn't imagine the pain. 

That night was exceptionally rough. As were the following ones. He was no doctor. No one that could truly help her. No one that could save her left eye. 

She spent months in his bed recovering. And then a few more after that just lying there. Turned away. Always. Always away. Sadness seeped from her every pore. His heart was broken all over again. Not because of her this time, but  _for_ her. Nothing he said helped. Nothing he did made her consider moving. And when he got too close she'd utter a warning growl that he had no choice but to heed. 

It seemed like she might die in that bed, even though he'd gone through so much to see that she didn't. 

A morning like any other had him waking from his spot on the floor to look over at her on the bed- except that time she wasn't. She wasn't anywhere in the house, in fact. And when he ran, breathless, with every expectation she'd fled, or maybe just evaporated into dust (was that how dragons died?), he found her awash in the early morning sunlight outside. 

Such a wonderful sight.  
Not the least of all because she was nude. 

When she turned to him he finally saw the scar. It was quite neater than it perhaps had any right to be with how much blood and pain it had caused. Just a very slightly diagonal line crossing from her brow downwards, ending just at the apex of her cheek. Not as reddened and angry than it would have been in moments where she wouldn't let him look. It just seemed... a part of her, now. 

The shade of her eye had grown dull, and while he wasn't sure this was how that should have ended up on a human, he found himself grateful she just hadn't been left with an empty hole in her head. 

"Not so beautiful anymore, mn?" 

He feet moved out from underneath him, carrying him to her in a dazed walk. Nothing suggested that he should or had any right to put his hands on her, but he did so regardless. Carefully, still, reaching them up to cup the lines of her jaw, angling what gaze she had left to his. He looked at her. 

Not terrified. Not nervous. Not disgusted. 

"You are." The two words left him in a hushed, glowing whisper. "And I-" 

_I'm happy you're up. I'm happy you're still here._  
_**And I love you.**_

She silenced him, reaching up to take his shoulders in a clawed grasp that may have frightened him a year ago, but now felt like  _ home _ . Then she found his lips against hers, and time slowed to a stop,

_**I love you, too.** _

-until cruelly it lurched forward, and she was out of his reach. Winds around them picking up as she shifted to the form that really belonged to her. She was beautiful, even then. 

" _ Wait for me. _ " He felt her voice more than heard it. 

"Forever." A promise easily made. 

And he did. 

One week into the next. One month bleeding into month after month. Years blending together. Women of the villages came and went. He lived a fulfilling life. Satisfying. Leaning on friends and family who just shot him sad glances whenever tales of love were passed around. But it was okay. Because they just didn't know. How could they? 

How could they know he was deeply in love? How could they know he was betrothed to the strongest woman the lands had ever seen? 

It was too many years to bother counting. He wasn't keeping track of time. She'd come back when she was ready. ...even though he worried for her well being. Surely, if she was in danger again, she'd come back then. But he hoped that she'd just come triumphant on her own. 

He was by no means an old man. But adulthood had long since had a firm grasp on him. Yet still... still he waited. 

And on a morning just like the one she'd left, she returned. 

Danny had been sitting on the fresh grass, listening to the breeze, letting his mind wander. One moment there was nothing, and in the next blink of his eyes, there she was. Thankfully she was in as perfect condition as ever. No wounds to dress up, no bones to reset. Just her. 

He had a hard time finding his legs, but when he finally ambled on up, she came closer, shyly at that. Never had he seen her in such standing. "...you waited." This, for some reason, she found impossible to believe. 

"I told you I would." What else should he have done? This seemed perfectly reasonable. 

When they were just inches from touching each other she looked up with that half-perfect gaze. "...you did." Cautious and curious about this, still, but in just another moment she reached up, fanning the tips of her rough fingers up from his neck to his jaw and just beyond to his ears and then back into his wild mass of curls. He melted almost instantly, something that made her smile. "I've missed you, my little human." 

His hands moved to curve over her hips, pulling her about as close as he could have her, grin warm and easy. "Just Danny is fine." Leaning in, eyes closing, they got caught up in one another so quickly. Almost not enough time to mumble out against her mouth, "I missed you, too..." In case she hadn't known. And- from one kiss into another- "...please- don't go again.." His heart couldn't bear it. 

He was startled just lightly as he felt a scaly tail wind around his leg, but not enough to stop kissing her. "I'm yours..." She was utterly breathless in a way that made his knees threaten to buckle. Even more so the promise she was making. 

_My beautiful dragon._  
_My wonderful human._

Somewhere between blankets and sheets, "...is the war over?" 

Her hands worked up his back, hips insistent. "Let's talk about it later..." 

Their lovemaking  _ far _ more important than politics.  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the love and comments! Keep them coming! I'm getting to responding to each and every one! Also I reserve the right to revisit the au idea to turn Dan dragon instead. But for right now I'm happy with this. I hope you are, too!


	5. After the Holidays

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taking down decorations in the office leads to some sentimentality. (Thanks to orgyforone on tumblr for the prompt!)

Holidays had come and gone and then gone further than that. The office wasn’t exactly a mess, but the remnants of decorations from the annual party were staring anyone in the face that looked at them for too long. There was that sense of guilt, that, _I should clean this up…_ but nobody bothered. Maybe some liked the holiday cheer up a little longer past its due date (Suzy a vocal advocate of such in fact, so much so that the wonderful Letty didn’t want to remove them in her travels). Some just couldn’t be bothered. Someone else would get to it eventually. 

 

Well.  
Eventually came and went.   
And with it you realized one late night that that somebody was going to be you. 

 

The tree was dying anyway, and who knew the last time it had been watered, making it a keen fire hazard ripe to go at any moment. That was the thought you used to keep you in the office past hours to actually get it done. While you’d need help taking a tree down the flight of stairs from the building and onto the curb, you could take the decorations off it and box them carefully and neatly. Pulling each one down and inspecting it for damage (Ross along with several others had perhaps drank a little too much and more than bumped into the tree a few times during the actual party). 

 

It was when you were about to set the box of the most fragile balls down that Dan frightened you by exiting from the recording room, and you dropped them to the floor instead. You two were caught in that moment of mutual spook-itude, having startled one another, staring with wide eyes until the laughter bubbled forth. 

 

“I thought you went home-” 

 

You both stopped and started and then more laughter ensued. Followed quickly by the same sort of mirrored acknowledgments that, yes, you both thought no one was here and, yes, you both had been scared for a moment. The laughter died as he helped you bring the box over to the garbage to carefully discard some of the now broken pieces. 

 

“Sorry about that.” He seemed sad very suddenly. 

 

“I didn’t buy them, and they probably came from Target anyway. Not a lot to fret over.” Easily replaced. They didn’t look like anybody’s heirlooms. No one would dare risk something precious in the hectic goings-on of the office, you guessed. “Shouldn’t you be home by now? In bed?” Not able to pass up a chance to neg him a little about his dreadful personal habits where work consumed him. 

 

When you turned to go back to the tree, he followed. “Can I ask the same?” His grin clear in that he thought he had some negotiating ground here. 

 

Slowly you unwrapped the silver garland from the tree, silently delighted when he began to help without a word. “I’m gonna guess both answers are relatively the same.” 

 

A noise of dissent escaped him as he looped the tinsel around his arms, “I was working. You seem like you’re just cleaning up after everyone else.” For only a strike of a moment, the air went dead, and you gave a look that said more than you’d ever have the guts to actually say. But he knew exactly what tree you seemed to be barking up. And in just another moment he found himself with a roll of his eyes and the barest nod. “Yeah. Well… At least we can clean up together.” 

 

This you appreciated, and with it similarly the amicable quiet that settled but didn’t stifle as the two of you got to work pulling the rest of the pretty off the brittle tree and set it by the door. Streamers and banners came down from the walls and rafters next, and before you knew it the quietness was replaced by a hypnotizing melodic humming that you quickly fell into. 

 

After one garbage bag was full of glittery nonsense never to be seen again until next year, he cast a glance at the window where the lone menorah sat, half melted candles still upright. “You know, I never asked who brought that in...” 

 

As the two of you moved over to clean that up too, “It’s very beautiful.” Not quite like the tree in that it would be easily disposed of. Made of sturdy brushed silver metal atop which sat colorful beeswax candles. There was a look he cast over it and another few seconds of stillness settled. The unnatural shape of… not quite a frown, but close, took his lips and you found yourself distressed. “Dan?” 

 

“Hmn?” It was a noncommittal noise and for all that you knew, he might not have even heard what you asked, too often off in his own world when his eyes looked that far away. “Oh-” Realizing you were staring, or maybe why that might have been. A shake of his head followed quickly along with a smile. “It’s nothing- I haven’t uh… well I haven’t like taken down decorations or anything like this in a really long time.” There was a pause but instead of interrupting you decided to see if you could wait him out for another response. Your patience was rewarded. “Back when it used to mean something. That long ago.” 

 

Dan’s dealings with religion were not too far from your own, if not the same leanings then the same conclusion. “Yeah. I’m with you.” You’d been content to ignore what it meant to be pulling down shiny things, anything that it might have stirred up inside of you. But as always, Dan was readily accepting of the things that put a pang in his heart. 

 

His answer, when you both were ready, was soft and the right amount of sweet. “You are.” 

 

Just like that, everything was okay. The office was mostly clear, you were ready to go home, and carrying the tree to the curb wasn’t as hard as you’d imagined. Not with Dan’s help. No surprise then, too, that when you found yourselves both back at the parking lot, the place you were heading home to wasn’t the one you owned. Not yet, anyway. 


End file.
